Damn.

Thanks a lot to everyone for helping out with this. I know a lot of you did, because I heard the anceinttrees.org website got a lot of extra hits, and was told that the issue received a lot more attention over the last few weeks than it seemed to be getting earlier.

Here's what I just found out:

Dear Friend of the Forest,

Unfortunately, the Heritage Tree Preservation Act failed to pass the California Assembly this year. In the end, we fell short by a handful of votes. We know that you share our deep disappointment. But its time to step back and appreciate just how much we’ve accomplished.

The struggle to protect California’s heritage trees will continue.

From the very beginning, this campaign has defied expectations. Cynics said the bill would never go anywhere.

They said it would never pass a single committee. It passed five grueling committee battles, both in the Senate and the Assembly.

They said it would never pass the Senate. It did.

They said it would never get widespread support. SB 754 had the support of leaders like Barbara Boxer, Nancy Pelosi and John Burton, as well as thousands of Californians from all walks of life who rallied behind the imperative to protect our remaining heritage trees.

With your continuing help, we will move forward. We are determined to see meaningful legislation passed, and we will continue to work toward this goal until we have protection for our remaining unprotected old-growth trees.

We’ll keep you posted as our efforts move forward. Be sure to check back to our website (www.ancienttrees.org) periodically for new information.

On behalf of the trees, thank you.